Sinta Nuriyah Wahid (also Sinta Wahid; 8 March 1948) is the widow of former

Indonesian President The President of the Republic of Indonesia ( id, Presiden Republik Indonesia) is both the head of state and the head of government of the Republic of Indonesia. The president leads the executive branch of the Indonesian government and is ...

Abdurrahman Wahid Abdurrahman Wahid ( ; born Abdurrahman ad-Dakhil; 7 September 1940 – 30 December 2009), though more colloquially known as Gus Dur (), was an Indonesian politician and Islamic religious leader who served as the 4th president of Indonesia, from ...

. She was

First Lady of Indonesia Throughout Indonesian history, the title of First Lady ( id, Ibu Negara) or, in an instance, First Gentleman ( id, Bapak Negara) has been used to refer to the wife or husband of the president of Indonesia. While the Constitution of Indonesia does ...

from 1999 to 2001.

Biography

Sinta was born in the

Jombang Regency Jombang Regency ( id, Kabupaten Jombang; jv, ꦏꦧꦸꦥꦠꦺꦤ꧀ꦗꦺꦴꦩ꧀ꦧꦁ) is a regency of East Java, Indonesia, situated to the southwest of Surabaya. The capital of the regency is the town of Jombang. The regency has an area ...

in 1948, the eldest daughter of 18 children. She attended an Islamic boarding school, where, at age 13, she fell in love with Wahid, who was a teacher there. After her father, a professional calligrapher, refused to approve the marriage, Wahid, whose father was the leader of

Nahdlatul Ulama Nahdlatul Ulama (, , NU) is an Islam in Indonesia, Islamic organization in Indonesia. Its membership estimates range from 40 million (2013) to over 95 million (2021), making it the largest Islamic organization in the world. NU also is a charitab ...

, went abroad to study. When Wahid proposed again from

Baghdad Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon ...

, Sinta accepted, marrying him three years before he returned to Indonesia in a ceremony where Wahid's grandfather stood in as a proxy. After Wahid returned in 1971, Sinta finished a degree in

Sharia Sharia (; ar, شريعة, sharīʿa ) is a body of religious law that forms a part of the Islamic tradition. It is derived from the religious precepts of Islam and is based on the sacred scriptures of Islam, particularly the Quran and the H ...

law. She helped support their four children by making and selling candies. In 1992, Sinta was in a car accident that left her paralyzed from the waist down. It took a year of physical therapy before she was able to move her arms. She then finished her

women's studies Women's studies is an academic field that draws on feminist and interdisciplinary methods to place women's lives and experiences at the center of study, while examining social and cultural constructs of gender; systems of privilege and oppress ...

graduate degree at the

University of Indonesia The University of Indonesia ( id, Universitas Indonesia, abbreviated as UI) is a public university in Depok, West Java and Salemba, Jakarta, Indonesia. It is one of the oldest tertiary-level educational institutions in Indonesia (known as the Dut ...

by having university staff carry her on a stretcher up to the building's fourth floor. Since her husband's impeachment, Sinta had been an outspoken defender of moderate Islam. She has pursued a tradition of holding inter-faith meals during

Ramadan , type = islam , longtype = Religious , image = Ramadan montage.jpg , caption=From top, left to right: A crescent moon over Sarıçam, Turkey, marking the beginning of the Islamic month of Ramadan. Ramadan Quran reading in Bandar Torkaman, Iran. ...

. She has praised the bravery of Governor

Basuki Tjahaja Purnama Basuki Tjahaja Purnama (, Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: ''Chûng Van-ho̍k''; born 29 June 1966) is an Indonesian businessman, politician, and former governor of Jakarta. He is also known by his Hakka Chinese nickname Ahok (). He was the second minority gover ...

and has criticized

polygamy Crimes Polygamy (from Late Greek (') "state of marriage to many spouses") is the practice of marrying multiple spouses. When a man is married to more than one wife at the same time, sociologists call this polygyny. When a woman is married ...

as unfair. After she was threatened by extremists, the

Banser Multipurpose Ansor Front, better known as Banser (abbreviation of ''Barisan Ansor Serbaguna''), is an Islamic militia organization based in Indonesia. It is a paramilitary wing of the youth organization Ansor Youth Movement (GP Ansor) affiliate ...

militia mobilized to protect her events. She was included in

TIME 100 ''Time'' 100 (often stylized as ''TIME'' 100) is an annual listicle of the 100 most influential people in the world, assembled by the American news magazine ''Time''. First published in 1999 as the result of a debate among American academics, po ...

list as one of The Most Influential People in 2018.

References

, - , - {{s-end 1948 births First Ladies and Gentlemen of Indonesia Living people Indonesian Muslims People from Jombang Regency Wahid family